1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combination compressor support and drain pan for use in an air conditioning unit. More specifically, the present invention relates to an air conditioning unit having a vertical partition and a peripherally encasing heat exchanger having.a central opening such that the compressor is mounted a selected distance from the bottom of the unit by a combination compressor support and condensate collection pan located within the heat exchanger central opening.
2. Prior Art
Wound fin heat exchangers are well known in the refrigeration and air conditioning fields. A wound fin heat exchanger consists of a tube having a fin material wrapped about the tube in heat exchange relation therewith to promote heat transfer between fluid flowing through the tube and a separate fluid flowing over the tube. The utilization of this type of heat exchanger has been found to be both cost effective and to provide an appropriate heat transfer surface with a minimum of tube length. A type of wound fin tubing includes slit fin tubing wherein a sheet of fin material is slit laterally and then rolled to a generally U-shaped arrangement such that the non-slit portion is wound against the tube and the slit portions extend outwardly therefrom.
To make advantageous use of wound fin heat exchangers it is necessary that the heat exchanger be configured to optimize heat transfer. Additionally, since the heat exchanger is made from several lengths of wound fin tubing, the heat exchanger is typically formed in a peripherally encasing configuration such as an annular or other configuration having an opening in the middle. As disclosed herein, the peripherally encasing heat exchanger will be generally rectangular in cross section defining an opening in the center.
When utilizing a peripherally encasing heat exchanger having a central opening in combination with a vertically mounted packaged unit, if the heat exchanger is sufficiently large to encase the entire outdoor portion of the packaged unit, then it is not possible to mount a compressor to the bottom of the unit. Hence, a combination support and drain pan for securing the compressor to the partition at some distance spaced from the bottom of the unit was developed.
Additionally, by mounting the compressor within the interior opening of the peripherally encasing heat exchanger, when the heat exchanger is serving in the appropriate mode, condensate drips therefrom onto the compressor and the support. It is desirable to funnel this condensate away from the bottom portion of the heat exchanger such that cold condensate as may collect in the heating mode of operation of a heat pump when the outdoor heat exchanger is serving as an evaporator, does not drip from one portion of the heat exchanger to another. The combination compressor support and drain pan not only serves to support the compressor but acts to divert the condensate from the upper portion of the heat exchanger and connecting tubing such that it is routed to bypass the lower portion of the heat exchanger because water could refreeze and prematurely block lower coil portions and because the presence of copper ions in the condensate could hasten corrosion of the lower coil portions. A second condensate pan is then placed below the entire heat exchanger such that the condensate diverted by the combination compressor support and drain pan is directed thereto. Additionally, by mounting the compressor within the interior opening of the heat exchanger, the wound fin tubing of the heat exchanger may serve to reduce the level of the noise emitted by the compressor. This arrangement also makes for easier serviceability.